Comments on: Goodly Creatures: A Pride and Prejudice Deviation, by Beth Massey – A Review

By: heidenkind

heidenkind — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 18:26:44 +0000

tldr

By: Ceri

Ceri — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 20:19:21 +0000

To be honest, I think if you take one of the most loved characters in English literature and make something like this happen to them you can expect to generate some powerful feelings. People feel like they know Lizzy and so reading something like this is more personal to them than if they’d read it about a previously unknown character. I would find it much easier (although not easy) to read a rape account of a stranger than of a friend. You refer to her as ‘My Elizabeth’ but the point is she ISN’T yours, so you can expect people to feel aggrieved if they think dramatic licence has been taken too far. There is a massive difference in something entirely non-canon but light hearted happening to a character and the direction that you took it. Didn’t Austen herself say that other pens than hers should dwell in guilt and misery? She specialised in light reading, so to me it logically follows that people who like her work are probably going to be looking for something light.

I have read a book I think you might be referring to in your message, where Lizzy is sexually assaulted short of rape and I think that would probably be less upsetting for some people because you have made the rape in your book probably about as upsetting as you could – she’s very young – it’s a pre-meditated attack – betrayal by a previously trusted female – forced to comply and in a situation where she can’t even fight back – has the worry of disgracing her family and the potential of social ruin for them all – she has lost her virginity which was a very big deal socially back then and she is left with extreme lasting consequences. To imply the only difference is that Darcy doesn’t get to take her virginity is an over-simplification of the difference.

I also think that your book should have some kind of warning in the blurb so that it’s clear the type of serious theme that is addressed rather than have people be taken by surprise by it. I am sure that there are lots people who would still want to read it, but those likely to be upset by it would be less likely to stumble across it looking for a light read.

By: analysismachine

analysismachine — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 17:31:34 +0000

Beth,

Now you have me curious about Elizabethan pajamas… :) I don’t think anyone would it consider it ‘bad author behavior’ to write about whatever is interesting to you, even difficult topics like rape and pedophilia. It might be considered a bit funky, however, to engage in an argument with a reader who did not enjoy your book (funky and pointless, really). Taste in reading is entirely subjective, and any reader is entitled to his or her opinion, even if that opinion is not the one you would want him or her to have.

In a way, isn’t it fantastic that your book has sparked such a vibrant discussion here?

By: Kimberly (Reflections of a Book Addict)

Kimberly (Reflections of a Book Addict) — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 13:52:15 +0000

Thanks, Jeffrey! I’m on the complete opposite side of the Austen spectrum and am usually super liberal with storylines, as long as the characters closely resemble the ones Austen created.

Truly appreciate your comment. And yes, trust is a must!

By: Beth Massey

Beth Massey — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 13:31:37 +0000

My Elizabeth Bennet heals and learns to live by an adage her father once told her: ‘unhappiness does, indeed, have comic aspects one should never underestimate.’ The scene Kim describes above about ‘The Faerie Queen’ is a perfect example of my attempt to convey that theme in ‘Goodly Creatures.’ It is also a perfect example of how Kim missed my forest in her review and fixated on one tree right up until she stopped reading. Lizzy and Mrs. Gardiner’s cousin, Jamie Wilder, are discussing his family’s history and recent tragedy in Ireland. Edmund Spenser comes up because of his rabid attack on Ireland where he wrote that Ireland needed to be ‘pacified’ by the English until its indigenous language and customs had been destroyed, if necessary by violence.’ My Elizabeth is processing another’s woe to put her own troubles into perspective. She imagines a man running from an angry mob in his nightclothes and finds the image humorous. She is not dwelling on her rape. It is months later and she is back out in the world engaging in conversation with a friend. At the point Lizzy and Jamie exchange this dialogue, Edmund Spenser has been dead for over 200 years. Elizabethan nightclothes were not particularly revealing—even Regency nightclothes were not revealing. I can tell you as a rape survivor, I never once felt even a twinge of PTSD when talking about men’s pajamas. In fact, pajamas were never even part of the equation because he did not change into them before he attacked me—the same was true for my Lizzy.

Truth be told, Austen’s characters should only be used for fluffy romance–forget about ‘Sense and Sensibility’ and ‘Mansfield Park’ or the serious themes Jane indulged in with all her novels–even ‘Pride and Prejudice.’ It is ‘author bad behavior’ and you will get put on that shelf at Goodreads if you go in the direction I did, but please feel free to make Darcy a werewolf, a vampire, a zombie hunter, a guardian angel or my personal favorite–have Lizzy attacked but her virginity preserved so it can be taken by Darcy at the appropriate moment.

By: Jeffrey

Jeffrey — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 20:22:53 +0000

Hi Kim: I REALLY appreciate your critical candor in this review. On a book I recently reviewed, I also took exception to the author’s deviating away from Jane Austen’s original artistic intent regarding major characters from Pride and Prejudice. I suppose I’m a Jane Austen purist and although I allow liberty for drastically altering the personalities and characters from the authentic, this doesn’t quite qualify to be the time and place. I am gratified to be associated with a group of individuals here at http://www.austenprose.com that comment with a sense for personal and artistic integrity in what is being reviewed. Trust is a must